COALITION AND REGIONAL MAYORS UNITE TO FIGHT LABOR’S DEVASTATING DISASTER FUNDING SLASH
The Federal Member for Dawson, Andrew Willcox, has stood shoulder-to-shoulder with local government leaders and the Coalition leadership in Canberra today to issue a blunt warning: the Albanese Labor Government’s radical cuts to emergency disaster funding will push regional councils into total financial ruin.
Standing alongside Nationals Leader, Senator Matt Canavan, Shadow Minister for Emergency Management and Minister for Maranoa David Littleproud and a delegation of regional mayors visiting Canberra to attend the Australian Local Government Association’s National General Assembly, Mr Willcox condemned the Labor government’s decision to dismantle the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA).
The proposed federal shift to a rigid 50-50 cost-sharing model replaces a long-standing, scalable framework that historically provided up to 75 per cent federal coverage for catastrophic events. Fresh modelling from the Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ) reveals the devastating scope of the cuts: if these rules had been in place over the last 13 years, Queensland communities would have lost more than $1 billion in "betterment" funding used to rebuild stronger, more resilient roads and bridges.
Mr Willcox, drawing on his extensive experience as the former Mayor of the Whitsunday Regional Council during Severe Tropical Cyclone Debbie in 2017, said regional Australia is being forced to carry a burden it physically cannot sustain.
"Before I came to this Parliament, I chaired the Disaster Management Group as Mayor of the Whitsundays during Cyclone Debbie. It was one of the most destructive cyclones to ever hit our shores, causing billions of dollars in damages across the country, with infrastructure and industry damage in Queensland alone exceeding $1 billion," Mr Willcox said.
"Back then, we relied on the federal government covering between 64 and 75 per cent of the recovery costs, with our council contributing the first $240,000. If this deceptive 50-50 split had been in place back then, and the state couldn’t afford the balance, our council would have gone completely broke.
"This is a cold cost-shifting exercise by a Labor Government trying to shift its core responsibilities. The communities I represent in Dawson contribute an absolute powerhouse of wealth to this nation through sugarcane, tourism, massive horticultural crops, and mining, but the geographic price we pay is living in a disaster-prone area. This is a direct hit to our productivity.
"To slide this through via a sneaky Friday afternoon press release with zero consultation with regional mayors is typical of what this government thinks of local government. First, they killed off the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure program, then they trashed the Financial Assistance Grants, and now they are coming for the DRFA. The Albanese Government needs to do better, regional Queenslanders refuse to be treated as second-class citizens."
The cuts have sparked fierce bipartisan outrage from local government leaders who are currently managing heavily stretched budgets. Speaking inside Parliament House in Canberra, Mackay Regional Council Mayor Greg Williamson warned that the policy shift would mark the end of critical regional infrastructure development.
"We have seen a massive reduction in federal assistance grants over the last decade, and now the federal sphere wants to shift its funding for natural disasters," Mayor Williamson said.
"We are a large, financially capable council, but this flat 50-50 model will quite simply be the end of us.
“It is a complete abrogation of responsibility from a federal government that collects 80 per cent of the taxes in this nation, while states collect 17 per cent and local governments collect just 3 per cent.
"There is no way in the world that the states are going to stump up the extra 50 per cent for local natural disasters in the future. So who misses out? The public.
“The roads, the bridges, and the public assets that councils look after simply will not be rebuilt following disasters."
The Coalition has pledged to fight the changes through the Senate, demanding that the Emergency Management Minister immediately reverse the decision and protect the financial viability of regional Australia.
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Caption: Federal Member for Dawson, Andrew Willcox MP, alongside Nationals Leader Senator Matt Canavan, and other Coalition members, as well as Mackay Regional Council Mayor Greg Williamson, and regional local government leaders in Canberra to protest the federal cuts to the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA).
Contact: Amanda Wright | Media & Communications Adviser
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